Four Trikonas of Dharma, Artha, Kāma, Moksha

Although not related to above case study, the following section on four purushārthas is useful in many cases on SC and other methods.

It is well known that twelve houses of a chart are sub-divided into four categories of Dharma, Artha, Kāma, Moksha, each comprising of three houses (called “Trikona”) in the following manner :

Four Purushārthas and 12 Houses

Purushārthas

i

ii

iii

Dharma

1

5

9

Artha

2

6

10

Kāma

3

7

11

Moksha

4

8

12

Now, let us re-arrange the above houses so that the main house of a Purushārtha lies at the first place :

Four Purushārthas and 12 Houses

Purushārthas

Phala

Physical Means

Mental Means

Dharma

9

1

5

Artha

2

6

10

Kāma

7

11

3

Moksha

12

4

8

The headings ‘Physical Means’ and ‘Mental Means’ are not wholly appropriate, but are very near the mark.

For Dharma main Phala is seen through 9th house, while Lagna which is Deha is physical means of Dharma («Shareeram Khalu Dharma Sādhanam»), and fifth house gives the mental powers.

For Artha, 2nd house is the final Phala, and 6th house gives the physical means such as landed property, house, gold, etc, while 10th house is related to Karma needed for attaining Artha : Karma is a mental attribute relative to Physical entities like house, land, gold &c.

For Kāma, 7th house is its Phala, while 11th house of Income provides the physical resourcers and means to fulfill Kāma, while the house of Parākrama (Valour) gives the stamina for attaining Kāma : stamina is a mental attribute if we categorize income as physical means.

Moksha is equated with 12th house, while 4th and 8th houses are difficult to be defined in terms of ‘physical’ or ‘mental’ attributes, but it is not difficult to see that 8th house is related to secret knowledge and austerities without which Moksha is impossible to attain, hence 8th house may be defined as ‘’meantal means' to attain Moksha, while 4th house of Sukha is related to Moksha.

It is a broad classification, words may be slightly inappropriate but the classification is accurate. It will be needed in Sudarshana Chakra Dashā as well as in the timing methods used in various Samhitā and Nādi texts.

The Phala of Moksha (12th house or 12H) is 4th from the Phala of Dharma, which means, Moksha is the Home (4th house) or Destination of Dharma. Its physical means Deha has its home in 4th house, while its mental means has very interesting connection : 8H is the home or destination of 5H, ie Secret Knowledge (8H) is the goal ore home (4th) of general knowledge (5H).

Similarly, Artha (2H) is 6th from 9H which means Artha is enemy of Dharma, ie Artha can be attained with the loss of Dharma (and Karma hinders Vidyā).

This topic is very important for understanding some house, such as 6H as physical means of Artha, 8H as secret knowledge needed for Moksha, etc. We will need such definitions in following sections.